


Icarus and the Sun

by peachpick



Series: Icarus and the Sun Series [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Casey Has OCD, Enemies to Lovers Casey King/Bellamy Blake, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers Casey King/Raven Reyes, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn Casey King/Bellamy Blake, The 100 (TV) Season 1, The 100 (TV) Season 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21893029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachpick/pseuds/peachpick
Summary: Casey King was counting down the days until her death and when the time came, she was ready. She had made her peace that she would be the next floated into deep space, the oxygen in her lungs ripped out and her skin frozen fragments until it all just went away.That was until she and ninety-nine other juvenile prisoners were given a second chance at life. Not on the Ark, but on the ground due to their lives being expendable. They could die from radiation, starvation, or even just by one another. In the end, it all seemed worse than a death among the stars like they had been promised.When they arrived on the ground, Casey was relieved to learn that her best friend, someone she claimed as a brother, had come down with her. She and John Murphy were together until the end, even as he continuously betrayed and killed others, he would never do anything to directly hurt her. And Casey would always accept him back, no matter what.Although, someone else had snuck onboard the dropship that could make Casey's blood boil just at the sight of. Someone that she blamed to have ruined her life, and yet he was the one person who might be able to save them all.Bellamy Blake.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Original Female Character(s), Emori/John Murphy (The 100), Raven Reyes & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Icarus and the Sun Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181504
Kudos: 11





	1. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One hundred teenagers from the Ark are taken from their cells and sent to Earth in order to see if the ground is survivable for the rest.

Casey King had exactly twelve hours until she was eighteen. Another eight until the Guard would come into her cell and take her away. She tapped eight times against the metal wall beside her, the sound echoing into the room. Matthison, her previous cellmate, had been taken by the Guard a month before. She hadn't had a cellmate since.

Well, that was until earlier that day. Wells Jaha had been escorted into her room at the same time her breakfast was scheduled. He would be with her for her final day, and he hadn't said a word. Wells curled on his cot and fell asleep after two hours of tossing and turning. He then woke up because his snoring was non-existent but hadn't moved from where he faced the wall.

Wells Jaha, the Chancellor's son. The son of the man she would be going before in her trial the next morning along with the members of the council, be denied her life and floated for her crimes. Eight more taps on the wall.

The oxygen in her lungs would be ripped out the moment the airlocks were released. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Her mother would be watching behind the glass as her lungs ruptured from the pressure. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Tears would flow down her cheeks as the oxygen in the rest of her body would expand, tap, tap, tap, tap, ballooning her to twice her size, but she'd stay intact. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Any exposed liquid would vaporize at the same time, her tongue and eyes boiling. Tap, tap, tap, tap.

In fifteen seconds, she'd pass out.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

In ninety, she'd be dead.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap—

"Could you stop?"

Casey turned her head, hitting one last tap on the metal, it echoed through the room twice as much as the others and ended up making the number of taps on the wall twelve for her last thought and a full 56 times since she had started thinking about it again.

She had gotten used to being alone in the room without a cellmate, and even when Matthison had been there she hadn't commented on the repetitive noises. In the quiet, she had forgotten Wells was even there.

"Sorry," Casey muttered, turning onto her side facing the metal wall. She rested her head on her right arm, her left hand raised to tap the numbers along her forearm until morning.

The door to their cell squeaked on its hinges, the boots of the two Guard members alerting the teens. Casey felt like no time had passed since Wells said his first words to her and the Guard coming to take her away. She stared at the wall for a moment longer, a tear falling down her cheek as she closed her eyes tight and took a stabilizing breath in.

"Prisoner 275 and Prisoner 325, against the wall," Miller, a Guard her mother had been friends with, announced to the teenagers. His voice firm and no sound of comfort fell with his words, keeping them cold.

Casey was calm, standing to her feet with her hands raised in the air to signal she was complying. Wells followed suit, following the commands with ease.

"Your arm," Miller requested, standing beside her with his hand held out. Scott stood by the door, whipping his arm out to show the shock baton crackling with electricity. This was not a request, but a demand.

Casey nodded her head, holding her arm out, ready for the cuffs. Although, Miller had only one thick wristband in his hand and clamped it down tight on her wrist. Casey hissed as the spikes lining the inside sunk into her skin.

Miller stepped over to Wells, asking the same of him, and Casey watched with furrowed brows as Miller clasped another wristband to him.

Scott turned his shock baton off and set it back into his belt, walking stiffly across the room and stood behind Casey, his hand tight on her shoulder as he took both of her wrists behind her back in a strong grip. He led her out of the cell first with Miller and Wells behind them.

Outside, Casey could see that the entire Skybox was being emptied out, and in the far recessed of her mind, she thought that they might have finally come to the point of killing them all. Her left hand tapped four times against her hand, brushing against Scotts'. Although, if he noticed, he didn't mention it.

"Are they killing... everyone?" Casey asked, unable to leave her thoughts unanswered.

Wells turned to look at her as much as he could with a frown on his face.

"No," he stated, his voice solemn as Miller and Scott began to move them. "We're getting sent to Earth."

Casey didn't know how to respond to that if to even believe Wells. Maybe he was trying to ease her mind until they were inevitably floated. Maybe he didn't even know what he was saying, hoping for something better than all of them dying. Or, maybe he meant in the spiritual sense, that after they did get floated their souls would return to the ground. 

They were positioned in line with other Delinquents who had been retrieved and waited until every kid was accounted for before they moved. They walked down the empty halls of B Dock that seemed to have been evacuated. No one was there except for a couple Casey didn't recognize, watching them with hard faces but weary expressions.

They stopped at the east end of Prison Station where the emergency Dropships had been set up for when the Earth was still habitable. One of the guards explained vaguely that the teenagers were to enter the Dropship, first filling in the second level and then the third.

The guard stepped aside, standing just outside the door as they filed in, saying 'good luck' to them with a curt nod but no one responded. None of them knew what exactly was happening, but there was a vague idea in all of their minds.

Four of the Guard had entered before the teenagers, two in the middle and two at the top directing the teenagers to where they needed to sit and ensuring that their seat belts were secure.

Casey was sent to the top level in a row of four and had taken the end seat. A boy with a kind face followed her, sitting beside her. He smiled gently when he noticed her staring. He was tall and nervous as the last few teenagers trickled in.

Casey could feel her hands shaking in anticipation of what was going to happen next. The boy beside her was the same as he chuckled nervously to himself, shaking his hands out before resting them on his thighs.

The two Guards walked through the dropship, ensuring each seat belt was buckled like when in videos of people riding roller coaster rides had to check they weren't going to fly out of their seats halfway through the ride. They met at the hatch and each moved down quickly, slamming the door closed and left the teenagers in silence.

The doors on the first level hissed closed, barely heard by the teenagers on the third level. The dropship fully powered on, the engines humming awake. It was ten minutes later that it shook harshly and detached fully from the Ark.

When the dropship began to rock unsteadily, Casey clenched her eyes shut, her hands sweating and her heart racing. Casey's hands shook even more as she tried to make them stop, gripping tightly to her pants, knuckles turning white as she counted out every passing, agonizing second of their journey to the ground.

Casey realized that Wells was right and that she wished he hadn't been.

Beside her, the kind-faced boy with warm brown eyes and the slightest bit of scruff on his face had noticed her anxiety, and although his own hands shook just as bad as hers, he still moved his hand to rest on top of hers. Casey's eyes squinted open, taking his hand on hers, and ever so barely relaxed her hand so that he could wrap his hand around hers in a death grip that she returned. They turned to each other, finding comfort.

On the screens, moments after they had broken into Earth's atmosphere, the dropship shaking against the air resistance, Chancellor Jaha appeared on the screen. His shoulders were square and a kind smile was on his face as if he weren't sending them to die.

"Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this not as just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us. Indeed, for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

Casey realized at his morbid explanation of their situation that she was going to die young, no matter what happened, and that she would never see her family again. Maybe she wouldn't be floated, watching her mother cry, but she was being sent to Earth to die. To become the foundation of the New World, to become the sacrifice for other's survival.

She only hoped that her death would be peaceful.

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" one of the delinquents shouted across the room, causing some of the other teens who weren't terrified out of their minds to laugh.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years."

"We're all going to die, aren't we?" Casey asked softly, her eyes unable to move from the screen where Jaha stared at her, his pleasant smile making her skin itch.

"Mount Weather is life," Jaha told her. "You must locate those supplies immediately."

"We should be okay, if they did their research right," the boy beside her said.

"Your one responsibility is to stay alive."

"Stay in your seats!" someone shouted, Casey looked in the direction to find three of the teenagers had unbuckled and started floating around the room. Casey felt something in her stomach churn, uncomfortable by the sight knowing that they'd have to impact soon.

The dropship swung violently, most likely releasing the parachutes and firing the retrorockets. Although, something was wrong as the dropship shook violently, swinging back and forth. The teenagers in their seats were caught by their seats while the boys floating had flung into pipes at the back of the room.

Everyone was screaming, it was loud and terrifying. Casey wasn't sure if she was screaming or even if her heart was still beating. She did know that the boy beside her clung to her hand so tight that she wondered if he had touched bone.

Then, the dropship impacted with the ground, making all of the teenagers rattle so that the blood in their toes reached the top of their heads in a second flat. Then, all was still, the power cut with a low hum and then, nothing. The emergency lights turned on almost immediately, nauseously dim and blinking rapidly.

Casey sat stoically in her seat, a low murmur of voice sounding around her but she wasn't listening. She stared ahead at the pipes where the boys had flung into them. She tapped her arm four, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty times. Then again and again and again and again.

Someone walked up to their bodies, then someone else to the other. There were only two when there had been three in the air, somewhat reassuring Casey that at least someone lived.

"Hey," someone, the boy that had been sitting beside her called, his hand on her shoulder and squeezed tight enough to pinch her out of her thoughts. "It's okay. We're okay."

Casey nodded, but she felt sick. She tapped the buckle to her seat belt eight times before unbuckling it and launched out of the top-level and down to the first. There was a crowd of excited teenagers all waiting to be released, pushing forward to get out of the door. One of the Guard that had stayed behind joined them and assured everyone that he'd open the door soon, once they gave him some space. His hand resting on the lever was all Casey could see of him before a girl behind her shrieked, "Stop!"

Everyone turned to look at the blonde that had been checking the pulse of one of the boys on the top level. She pushed her way through the crowd and stood defiantly at the front where Casey could no longer see her, only hear what she had to say.

"The air could be toxic!" she claimed.

The Guard about to open the door stood away from the lever, stating, "If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway."

"Bellamy?" a soft voice interrupted from the opposite ladder that Casey stood at.

Bellamy, Bellamy, Bellamy, Bellamy.

Casey watched the girl with dark hair and sharp features push herself to the front like the blonde, everyone chattering amongst themselves, getting particularly rowdy once Bellamy said something of interest but Casey wasn't listening. She was too focused on Bellamy, a glare settled onto the man she had finally caught an image of through the crowd.

She could feel her skin burning as he talked, the deep gravel that haunted her nightmares. Her arms crossed, tapping out a rhythm of fours against the skin. She couldn't believe that Bellamy was down here, reenlisted as a member of the Guard after everything that had happened the year before. Not even her mom had been reenlisted. She could feel a scowl form on her lips. She was so repulsed and stuck in her own thoughts of Bellamy being on the ground with her for who knew how long that Casey barely noticed the doors to a whole new world open.

The kind-faced boy stood beside her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and a small smile on his lips. He leaned down to look Casey in the eye, dragging her from her thoughts once again, and then looked back to the open door.

"We've been dropped to Earth, the doors are open and the air doesn't seem to be toxic and yet you're still standing inside, brooding. Why is that?" he asked teasingly, smiling at her as he looked down from the corner of his eyes.

"Doesn't matter," Casey sighed, waving her hand at him. She took the lead, walking to the door of the dropship with him following. She stopped at the edge of the dropship door, taking in a deep breath of fresh air for the first time in her life. She looked to the boy standing beside her and asked, "Uh, what was your name?"

"Elijah Santiago," he said warmly, placing his hands in his pockets. "But call me Eli."

"Casey, Casey King," she greeted with a flicker of a smile before she frowning again. "Go ahead. I... need a minute, but I'll catch up."

Eli nodded, smiling at her one more time before jogging off to join the other teenagers as they screamed in delight at the trees, sky, clouds, peaceful noise of nothing, of freedom.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" 

Casey turned toward the voice to find Bellamy Blake standing beside her, staring out at the sight before him, and every good feeling that had welled up in Casey's chest turned sour at the sight of him. His dark brown eyes moved from the trees to her as if nothing bothered him. That was until he took in the deep scowl she sent him.

"I'm Bellamy," he greeted, a charismatic smile sure to turn her frown into a pleased grin.

Casey turned away. Instead, she focused her sight on the others chirping and beaming with life.

"Alright," Casey nodded in response, not willing to give him what he wanted.

She was quickly distracted by a familiar face in the crowd, one she thought she'd never see again, and smiled, her heart skipping a beat.

Casey lightly jogged across the camp, away from Bellamy and the dropship, to jump onto the back of her best friend, someone she had grown up with and considered a brother. She hadn't seen him in at least two weeks since Pike's class started and were considered by the Guard "destructive together".

"John!" she crowed into his ear, her arms tight around his neck and legs wrapped around his hips.

"Case?" he whispered, voice breaking.

The 'friends' Murphy had gained in his time in the Skybox surrounded them all chuckled at the sight. They had known Casey for a short time until she was put on the B schedule. Then she was only able to see John on Visitation Days when her mom came to visit them.

Casey unwrapped herself from Murphy so that she could look at him but she was barely able to take in his sharp nose or drowsy eyes before he had pulled her into a back-breaking hug, one hand in her hair and the other wrapped fully around her waist as he held her close. His breath shuttered against her skin, and she could feel a slight dampness against her cheek.

"You were... I thought you'd be floated by now," he whispered, his voice heart-breaking.

The teenagers that swarmed them had by now broken off as the conversation became a little too intimate for them to enjoy.

Casey laughed, looking up to the clear blue sky, "Happy birthday to me, right?" she whispered, pulling back.

A frown came to her face as she took in a bruise on the hairline of Murphy's forehead. Her hand reached up and lightly touched the injury with the tips of her fingers. Murphy flinched, then laughed when realizing what she had noticed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Pike went psycho during Earth Skills yesterday," Murphy explained, rolling his eyes. "I always knew he had it out for me."

Casey's frown deepened, the edges of her brows creasing in the middle. She lowered her hands, and asked, "Do you think he knew?"

"Knew what?"

"Hey, Casey!" Eli shouted from across the camp, jogging over to them. He smiled widely, waving to Murphy before pointing at him with a look of recognition. "Murphy?" he asked. "Eli, we were in Earth Skills together."

Murphy laughed under his breath, rubbing where Pike had hit him, "Hey, man," he said.

"What's up, Eli?" Casey asked with a small smile, wanting to move past the obvious circumstance of Pike's emergency Earth Skills class and the fact that they were now standing on Earth in desperate need of those skills that she had no doubt any of them paid attention to.

"Hey, so I realized that we're probably going to need firewood tonight if we want to keep warm and all that shit Pike told us about," Eli explained, looking between the two.

Maybe someone had been paying attention in Earth Skills.

"You paid attention to that?" Murphy asked, a little dumbfounded as was Casey.

"Yeah, it was interesting!" Eli cheered. "Anyways, do you guys want to go with me? To get some firewood, I mean?"

Murphy looked at Eli then at Casey before waving his hand.

"Nah, man. Let someone else do it," he laughed, tucking his hands into his pockets, and started to walk off until he noticed Casey not behind him. "Case?"

"I'm gonna go," Casey stated with a small smile. "Beats being here doing nothing," she stated, but her eyes flickered to Bellamy where he had been standing, watching over everyone. In reality, she didn't want to be around him.

Murphy shrugged, "Don't die."

"Don't set anything on fire," Casey jested with a small laugh at the glare he sent her and headed with Eli into the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has gone from 2.7k words to 3.2... I'm shocked to say the least.
> 
> Thank you guys for reading, voting, and commenting! I see a lot of new readers and I'm very excited for that !!


	2. Tabula Rasa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casey and Eli join Clarke and a few of the other campers to find Mount Weather and the supplies left there before the nuclear decimation. Although, along the way, they learn that the ground isn't as good as it seems.

THE Camp had gone down hill in less than an hour. The teenagers swarmed the side of the Dropship and in the middle were Murphy and Wells, fists raised and ready to fight. Murphy was light on his feet, dancing from side to side tauntingly as he raised his eyebrow cockily. On the other hand, Wells stayed firmed in his stance, a scowl on his lips as he steadily watched Murphy try and scare him into an attack by feinting blows.

After a moment, Murphy had found Wells' weak point, all of his attention was on the upper half of him, so when he moved forward and locked his foot around his ankle, Wells was easily slammed back. Wells didn't stay down long, standing up, his leg obviously injured as he leaned heavily on the other. The teenagers around them were watching eagerly, chanting wildly at the two and eager for blood to spill between either one, but mostly Wells as they projected their anger of what his father had done to them.

Casey and Eli had stepped back into camp mid-fight, Casey dropping her wood to the ground once she realized what was happening and ran toward Murphy before another 'fire in the arresting officer's quarters' incident could happen.

Before Casey could drag Murphy out by the back of his neck, the boy from the dropship who survived floating had landed in between them, flipping his shaggy hair from his eyes.

He turned to Murphy with a small, condescending smile, as he said, "Kids got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"

Murphy frowned, but didn't move to try and fight Wells again, realizing that if he did the others would see him as pathetic and angry. He clenched his fists and frowned, finding Casey in the crowd who nodded her head for him to come over.

Murphy walked toward her but stormed past her.

"I'm fine," he claimed, before going off.

Casey rolled her eyes as she made her way back to Eli who stood by the wood she had dropped, his own firewood cradled in his arms. She picked up hers and together they walked to the dropship where they set down it down.

"What next?" Casey asked, seeing as Eli seemed to have an idea of what they needed to accomplish during their first day more than anyone else.

"Wanna go to Mount Weather?" the shaggy haired floater asked with a cool smile as he strode up to them, his hands shoved in his pockets as he looked between the two. "I'm Finn, I noticed you guys go off before all the action happened," he laughed slightly, looking down at the firewood. "But smart of you guys to get wood for the night, sure they'll need it."

Casey took in what Finn said, not particularly interested in leaving the drop site but at the same time... Her eyes drifted to where Bellamy stood talking to his sister intensely, she frowned as she glared up at Bellamy and snapped back whatever she had to say. Casey then caught sight of Murphy walking around with a group of other teenage delinquents ready to pick another fight. She turned back to Finn with a curt nod.

"Casey," she greeted with a terse smile, holding her hand out to him. Finn peeled his hand out of his jacket and shook her hand warmly. "I'll go. Anything to get out of here," she admitted.

"That's one, how about you?"

Eli shrugged, looking at Casey from the corner of his eye. 

"Yeah, I'll go. Someone needs to keep an eye on her," he explained, laughing as he pointed his thumb at Casey, scowling.

"Alright!" Finn exclaimed, moving in between the two so that he could wrap both his arms around their necks and dragged them towards the others venturing to Mount Weather.

"Casey and Eli are joining the team!" Finn cheered as they approached the others. "Casey, Eli, this is Clarke, Monty and Jasper."

Finn started to move them out, but Casey stopped him asking if she could tell Murphy bye. He assured her they'd wait until she got back but they needed to get going soon. Casey nodded her head and darted down the small hill, past Octavia kissing Bellamy's cheek and skidded to a stop in front of Murphy.

"Woah, Case, what are you doing?" Murphy asked, holding his hands out in case he needed to steady her.

Casey stood, panting slightly with her hands on her thighs before standing up straight.

"I'm going... to Mount Weather," she breathed heavily, waving her hand in her face. "Shit, I really need to work out more."

"You're going to Mount Weather?" Murphy asked with a raised brow and a frown on his face. "No, come on, stay here. Like Bellamy said, let the privileged kids do it, they deserve it for what they've put us through!"

"John," Casey sighed. "You know they won't be able to brink back enough food for all of us. I'm not asking you to go, and Eli's going so don't worry about me not being able to take care of myself. He actually paid attention in Earth Skills unlike some of us."

Murphy frowned at her statement, readjusting his footing and crossing his arms. He wasn't convinced.

"I'm referring to us, John. We didn't pay attention in Earth Skills," she continued, waving her hands in between them and cracked a small smile at the edge of Murphy's lip. "Besides, I can't stand to be about him," Casey stated, darting her eyes towards Bellamy so he'd understand who she meant.

"Him?" Murphy asked, confused until he looked back at Casey and realization crossed his features. "Is he the guy—?"

"Yeah, so, I'm going," Casey explained, crossing her arms and mimicking Murphy's stance without realizing, her finger tapping four times against her wristband.

Murphy looked down to her hand then back to her face, his eyes darted around as he took in what she was saying. He couldn't think about it long, stressing himself out, so he waved his hand at her dismissively, pushing back the negative thoughts as much as he could.

"Fine, whatever," Murphy sighed.

"Oh, and save me a cot since we're obviously sharing a tent. Like old times," Casey grinned, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Um, what if I was saving that cot for girls?" Murphy asked, dramatically stepping out of the hug and raising his hands.

Casey rose an eyebrow at him and asked, "What girl would want to be with you that could be with me?" she asked with a smug smile and a wink before darting away before he could hit her upside the head.

"Ready to go?" Finn asked sweetly when she approached and she nodded, the group heading to Mount Weather.

"Before you get any ideas," Octavia spoke up from in between Clarke in front of her and Casey and Eli walking behind her. "Finn's mine."

"Before you get any ideas," Clarke huffed. "I don't care."

Octavia chuckled slightly as if she didn't really believe Clarke, but turned to look at Casey up and down, a smirk on her pink lips.

"What about you?" Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just want to get through this day," Casey muttered, her eyes resting on Octavia wondering why someone would risk their life for her. Octavia shuttered at the gaze Casey had on her and turned away, uncomfortable with the hollowness in her eyes.

They had gotten about half an hour into their walk in the woods, a comfortable silence landing over them as they were all enraptured by the greenery of the world they now lived in and the darkness of the dirt beneath their feet and everything in between.

Finn had found a bush with beautiful purple flowers growing, plucking one of the flowers and presented it to Octavia, making her cheeks flush.

"Now, that, my friend, is game," Jasper claimed, staring at Octavia while leaning over to his best friend, Monty.

Casey smiled at the two boys, recognizing from the Ark. Jasper was lanky and sweet with warm brown eyes and goggles she had never seen him take off. Monty was shorter and not as bony as Jasper with dark, soul-searching eyes. Monty was more sarcastic and blunt with people while Jasper seemed to be in his own little world while at the same time making sure he never crossed lines with people.

Jasper and Monty were probably a year or two younger than Casey, so she didn't know them as well as Murphy, but she knew them in passing.

"That, my friend, is poison sumac," Monty told Jasper bluntly, his eyes darting to Octavia the moment he said 'poison', watching as the words he set lit a fire under her skin as she brushed the flower out of her black hair as quickly as she could.

"What? It is?" Octavia asked, her words clipped as she tried to remain calm, the flower now out of her hair.

"The flowers aren't poisonous," Casey assured her, although the damage was done. The flower now crushed and bent beneath the dirt.

"Exactly. They're medicinal, calming, actually," Monty agreed with her, turning back to eye her for a second before shoving the flower into his mouth to prove what he said.

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper explained.

Ahead of them, Clarke stood waiting for them impatiently, a frown on her face as she called out to them, "Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?"

"Come on, Clarke," Finn called back in a soothing curiosity. "How do you block all this out?" he asked, jogging toward her with the others following behind.

Clarke gave Finn a blank stare, her blue eyes almost looked tired and beyond her years at Finn's simple question.

"Well, it's simple," Clarke began. "I wonder: 'Why haven't we seen any animals? Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe we've been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty though'," she finished with a small shrug, turning to look at the others and nodded her head. "Come on."

Clarke turned on her heel sharply, walking a few feet ahead of the group once again. The others stayed behind for a second, stunned by her answer.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac," Octavia muttered, nodding her head at Clarke's retreating back.

They all laughed in response to Octavia, Jasper snorting loudly as if Octavia's comment had been the funniest thing he had ever head. Monty elbowed him in the rib cage while Casey turned back to look at him, teasing, as she quirked an eyebrow.

Jasper's face turned bright red at how quickly he had been caught but neither said a word to further embarrass him.

They were trailing Clarke at the same distance they had been before, although they tried to keep their attention on getting to Mount Weather before she snapped at them again.

Finn turned back to Monty and Jasper with a wide smile, shaking his head as he said, "I gotta know what you two did to get busted."

"Sumac is not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean," Monty explained, his words lingering so that the connection was made. 

"Someone forgot to replace what we took," Jasper continued, his eyes darting to Monty pointedly.

"Someone has apologized, like, a thousand times."

"What about you guys?" Finn asked, trying to diffuse the tension between the boys, even if it was lighthearted.

"Assault," Casey said blankly, her gaze hard as Finn tried to pull more out of her with those puppy dog eyes of his.

"I was arrested for trading," Eli cut in with a small shrug. 

Casey looked to Eli, thankful he had helped her out of Finn's prying questions. She understood why he asked, they had all done things, but he shouldn't go searching for the answers when they weren't wanted to be given out.

"Like, black market trading?" Finn asked, both him and the other teenagers curious. 

Eli waved his hand, "Yeah, I just fell into the wrong crowd. My dad always did his best but I got bored and trading just gives you a rush. I got arrested when Nigel threw me under the bus for one of her meet ups going wrong," Eli explained, rolling his eyes.

"What about you, Octavia?" Jasper asked without thinking, caught up in the excitement of the moment and his crush on Octavia.

Casey's eyes shot towards Jasper, her shoulders now tense as Octavia answered shortly, "Being born."

Octavia stormed away from the group and towards Clarke who squatted in the grass, watching something. 

"That," Monty commented. "Is so not game."

Monty and Jasper began hitting each other on the chests, oblivious to what was going on around them.

"Stop it!" Casey hissed, the two freezing as she waved her hand for them to hurry up and catch up with the others.

The group huddled together. Their fears, worries and questions about the ground abandoned as they stared out at a clearing where a deer stood, eating the grass. None of them had ever seen a live animal, the antlers on its head large and proud, its fur silky and a chestnut brown. The sight of the creature brought a smile to all of their faces and reassured that worry nagging at the back of their minds that everything had been destroyed after the apocalypse.

Maybe they had more of a chance on the ground than they thought.

"No animals, huh?" Finn asked Clarke smugly.

He crept a few steps closer than, his foot finding a branch and snapped it in half. The deer perked up at the noise, startled and turned to stare straight at them.

Although, what they saw was something out of a nightmare rather than the images they had been shown on the Ark. Flesh peeked out of the sides of its face where another had grown with the first. Three eyes stared at them for a long moment to ensure the first image they ever had of life on Earth would scar them forever.

Then it scampered off into the woods east of them and the breath caught in their throats was let out in one loud sigh now free from the sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much Bellamy and Casey this chapter but once they return from Mount Weather and Jasper is save then the real fun begins.
> 
> Thank you all for reading, voting and commenting. I love you all <3


	3. Here There Be Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While heading to Mount Weather, the small explorative come across the river that show them the Earth is not all that it seems.

**"HEY,** you know what I'd like to know?" Finn asked the group. "Why send us down today after ninety-seven years? What changed?"

Finn's words struck a chord in them. Everyone on the Ark had dreamed of going to the ground, had envisioned it as they looked out at Earth almost every day, but that was all it was. _A dream._ What the delinquents had been sent down to do, to survive for the sake of the Ark was nothing anyone could ever think of happening in reality. There was something strange around the circumstances of their arrival. 

They only had a two-week refresher course in Earth Skills and a departing message from Jaha after the dropship detached from the Ark. It was rushed and secret and it didn't bode well for the condition of the Ark.

"Who cares?" Octavia chirped, her tone sweet yet callous on her lips. "I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest!" she exclaimed, her hand resting around the trunk of a skinny tree before spinning around it to land herself in Finn's path.

Finn gave her one glance before walking around her, the others followed to discuss Finn's point as if she hadn't said a word.

"I'd like to know, too," Casey stated casually, walking past Octavia. "This isn't just some way to get rid of us without question, they could have just floated us if they wanted to do that."

"Or maybe they found something on a satellite, you know? Like an old weather satellite... or it wasn't a satellite," Monty theorized unconvincingly beside Casey, his hand rested against his chin as he thought on the mind-bending matter.

"Did you bring down some of those plants you stole with you?" Casey asked Monty, distressed by whatever point he was trying to make.

"The Ark is dying!" Clarke blurted out suddenly, her body tense from the weight of her words as if she had been trying to hold them in, but had exploded out of her mouth without consent. She continued, either way, explaining, "At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone."

Dead silence consumed them, stopping in their tracks as they stared at Clarke panting and shaken by her own words.

"What?" Casey asked, her voice hoarse as if Clarke's words had burned their way down her throat.

Casey turned to Eli, her honey eyes wide in horror and his widened into a similar expression, mouth opened just slightly. They both had parents on the Ark, ones that they loved and could soon be dead if the ground wasn't survivable or if the Ark's oxygen-depleted before they could get down.

"So, that was the secret they locked you up to keep? Why they keep you in solitary? Floated your old man?" Finn asked, he and Clarke now pulling the front to keep the group moving.

"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed. My _mother_ disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic," Clarke explained. "We were gonna go public, anyway, when Wells..."

"What?" Finn asked, turning to look at Clarke sharply. "Turned in your dad?"

The heartbreak and betrayal was evident on Clarke's face. Her eyebrows drew together and her frown grew even more distressing. Casey couldn't imagine the pain of losing a father. One that you had grown up with, come to love, found a best friend in. She couldn't imagine her best friend betraying her either. No matter the wrong choices John Murphy made, she never believed he would betray her in the end.

"Anyway," Clarke continued, brushing past Finn's comment. "The Guard showed up before we could. _That's_ why today. _That's_ why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time."

There was another brief silence, the forest offering nothing but an uncomfortable silence.

"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked, his voice soft and features falling dramatically as soon as all the information placed on them clicked into place.

Casey's body grew cold, distant. She didn't want to think of her mother dying up on the Ark, alone, as the Chancellor continued to kill more and more people. She knew it was who they were, _kill the one to save the many,_ but how could the one that they kill be hundreds to save the many? What happens when the one begins to outgrow the many? What then?

Octavia walked through, a grin curling on her lips, "Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all."

Casey trained her sight on Octavia, the coldness in her veins boiled and every muscle in her body constricted, ready to strike as she approached Octavia. The girl stuffed beneath the floorboards who had no love for anyone on the Ark. Casey understood her hatred, her callousness, but there were people that Casey loved on the Ark, and Octavia's uncaring attitude on whether they lived or died pushed Casey to the edge.

"They didn't all do that to you," Casey claimed, her voice lighter than she anticipated, teetering between the hoarseness she had encountered earlier and a strangled choke trying to hold back her rage.

"No?" Octavia asked, taunting her as she turned to look at Casey. "Well, they didn't help either."

Octavia shrugged, turned back around, and walked away from the group, uninterested in their conversation.

Casey, however, was not finished with her. She stormed after Octavia, wanting to shake some sense into Octavia before she could say something that she'd regret. Something that would turn everyone against her but her shit-ass brother who would feel like it was his _obligation_ to agree with her. Something that would cause Casey to punch her right in her pretty face.

"Hey!" Casey shouted after Octavia, her anger finally seeping through her teeth. "Those people up there, you don't know them, you don't know if they tried to help you or _not!"_

They began to walk up a small cliffside where Octavia stopped at the top and looked over with a large smile, barely listening to what Casey had to say. Octavia took off her pants as Casey approached. Casey noticed the river but didn't pay attention to it for long.

"I'm talking to you!" Casey screamed, catching Octavia's attention once again as the group below had taken to stare at Octavia, half-naked on the rock and Casey turning bright red in anger.

"Well, I'm not," Octavia shrugged. "I think you need to cool off," Octavia claimed, pushing Casey into the river without a second thought.

Casey sucked in a deep breath of water, it burned down her throat and into her chest as she sunk down into the water.

Death by asphyxiation.

Octavia's hand had taken hers, pulling her up onto her feet as she coughed and choked on her own stupidity (and river water). Casey had already been red from yelling at Octavia but now she felt ten times hotter from the embarrassment.

"Are you alright?" Clarke called from where she had skidded to a stop, seeing the river below.

"Fine," Casey muttered, crossing her arms and lowering herself into the water. 

Clarke nodded and looked at the river with creased brows before looking down at the map in her hands. 

"Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here," Clarke commented.

Although, Casey was too annoyed to keeping listening. She just wanted out. She wanted to be dry and warm and honestly, she'd prefer her cell to being on the ground, even though she'd be dead by now. She just didn't want to be there in the water with five strangers.

Casey was about to move back to shore and sulk on the rocks instead when she caught Jasper's gaze. His eyes were wide and looked past her and Octavia, his skin paler than it had been before and his mouth dropped open into a silent scream.

Casey turned to look at what he had been staring at to find a shadow beneath the water, headed straight for her and Octavia.

Alarms began to sound inside Casey's head, anxiety wracking its way up her veins but she couldn't let herself get stuck, or else she'd be eaten by a river monster.

Casey took Octavia's arm in her hand where she still stood smiling and oblivious to the danger lurking behind them. Octavia shouted a short, _'Hey'_ before Jasper started screaming at them to get out of the water.

Octavia was raised out of the water by Casey where Jasper and Eli waited to pull her up. Eli leaned back down for Casey as soon as Octavia was safe, their hands brushing against each other before she was dragged under the water.

Casey's lungs began to fill with water again, burning her throat like acid, and her head spun from the sharp movements the creature made. If it weren't for the fact that she was being dragged all across the river by her leg, she thought this might be what floating is like.

For a moment, Casey was able to break the surface, spewing water from her lungs, and took a deep breath before she was dragged back under, ready to accept her fate. By the cliffs where the others stood, a rock splashed into the water causing the monster to stop in its tracks. Another followed soon after and the creature was enraptured by the falling objects, distracted by the movement and detached its teeth from her thigh to swim for the rocks on the other side of the riverbed.

Casey was able to doggy paddle the best she could to near the rocks closest to her before the monster came back. None of the kids of the Ark could swim but she hoped her frantic movements would work anyway

Eli and Jasper jumped into the water, both tall enough to reach the bottom of the river without worrying about drawing. They met Casey and dragged her to shore where Monty waited for them and took her hands to help drag her onto the rocks.

"Thank you," Casey muttered, patting Monty's shoulder as she laid back against the rocks. Jasper and Eli met her there, panting loudly as they fell beside her. Casey patted Jasper's thigh in a small thank you and took Eli's hand in hers, tapping her finger against the back of his hand, counting softly under her breath.

Clarke ran from where she had dropped one last rock to assess the damage on her thigh where the monster had ripped open her cargo pants. She looked to Casey, giving her a weary smile.

"You're going to be just fine," she assured her, leaning over to Jasper and ripped the hem off his shirt, and wrapped it around her leg to slow the circulation to her leg.

Casey nodded softly, noticing Octavia kneel down beside Casey's head moving from where she had watched nervously on the side. Casey looked up to Octavia's face still painted in guilt and worry. Casey smiled softly, trying her best to reassure her that it was okay.

"You know," Octavia laughed nervously, her hand smoothing Casey's wet hair out of her face. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Casey," she sighed, closing her eyes at the soothing feeling of her cool hand. "Casey King."

"King," Octavia let out a soft chuckle, her green eyes settled onto Casey's as she slowly opened them, a knowing smile on her lips before she closed them again.

* * *

"Find any water yet?" Murphy asked back at camp as he stood before Wells Jaha who had just returned from scouting the woods and piled firewood where Casey and Eli had left what they had collected earlier.

"No, not yet, but..." he said amiably, straightening up and caught Murphy and Mbege smirking at him. His words faltered realizing that they had been teasing him, but he didn't let the boys get under his skin. "I'm going back out if you want to come," he continued, his words falling again as he turned to look at the dropship where one of them wrote _'FIRST SON, FIRST TO DYE'._

Murphy and Mbege cackled like hyenas as Wells read over the threat multiple times. 

Murphy sniffed loudly, rubbing his nose with the hand that held his knife to show he had been the one to carve it into the side.

"You know, my father, he begged for mercy in the airlock chamber when your father floated him," Murphy stated, spitting his words out at Wells.

Wells stared at Murphy for a second, turned away then walked toward them.

"You spelled die wrong, geniuses," Wells stated, bumping Murphy's shoulder as he passed him with a slight limp.

Murphy and Mbege both turned to watch him leave, smirking, knowing that one way or another they had gotten under his skin.

"If you're gonna kill someone," Bellamy called, walking past Wells and up to the two. "It's probably best not to announce it,' Bellamy stated, looking at the side of the dropship, then back to Murphy, unamused.

Murphy chuckled, unfazed, asking, "You're not really a member of the Guard, are you?"

"No. The real guard will be here soon unless we stop it," Bellamy explained, looking from Mbege to Murphy assessing their expressions before continuing. "You don't actually think they're gonna forgive your crimes?" he chuckled under his breath watching as Murphy's face fell, taking in his words. "Even if they do, then what? Guys like us, we're gonna become _model citizens_ now, get jobs." Bellamy's voice lowered as he pointed out his believed truth if the Ark came down after them. "If we're lucky, maybe pick up their trash?"

Mbege wasn't susceptible to Bellamy's words, his shoulders growing tense as he practically jumped at Bellamy, asking, "You got a point?"

"No. I got a question," Bellamy stated, looking from him to Murphy once again. "They locked you up, dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So, why are you helping them?"

"The hell we are!"

"You're wearing those bracelets, aren't you?" Bellamy pointed out, nodding his chin towards them. "Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it's safe to follow us down."

Murphy sighed, looking to the side as his hand rested over his wristband, tapping it four times like he saw Casey do earlier.

"You're right," Murphy stated, looking at Bellamy who seemed elated by his two words. "But Casey's mom is up there. She'd be devastated to know she'd died. I couldn't do that to either of them."

Bellamy smiled, his lips turning thin as he set his hand on Murphy's shoulder so that he knew that he wasn't alone, squeezing tight and looked him in the eye.

"What's more important? Protecting your sister or letting them kill her because we trusted them?" Bellamy asked, Murphy's eyes flickering between his, conflicted. "Because it's not just Casey's mom who's coming down, but all of them," Bellamy explained, shaking Murphy's shoulder. "I'm doing what I can to protect my sister, too. So, what are you going to do to protect yours?"

"Okay," Murphy nodded, his expression steely. "You said we could stop it. How?"

Bellamy smiled, taking a step back.

"Take them off," Bellamy stated. "The Ark will think you're dead, that it's not safe to follow. You follow?"

"Right, and if we do, I mean, what's in it for us?" Murphy asked, nodding his head toward Mbege.

"Someone has to help me run things."

Murphy nodded his head, smiling widely at the thought of power. He glanced at Bellamy, his brow furrowing again, "Casey isn't going to willingly take her wristband off."

"We can make her take it off," Bellamy assured him.

"No," Murphy stated sharply. "I'll get her to do it, but it's going to take some time."

Bellamy considered his words, then nodded, "Fine, but if she's the last one with her wristband, _I'm prying it off."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the kind of long interaction between Murphy, Wells and Bellamy that's already in show but once Bellamy asks for Murphy and Mbege's help you can see that Murphy is not as eager to do so as he is in the show. Although, he does come around. If you skipped that (which I totally understand) maybe go back and read that part!
> 
> Other than that, things are finally starting to really kick off with Casey and the others as they start to see that Earth is not as safe as they might have thought it was.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, commenting, and voting! I really appreciate all of you!


	4. What Lies Across the Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group headed to Mount Weather realize they're not alone on Earth after an exchange with the people who live on the ground, and they have to run back to their camp to warn the others.

The group headed for Mount Weather had decided to camp for the night after the exciting events at the river before beginning their journey again in the morning. Casey and Eli woke up with the others and headed to the river to try and figure out how to get across without getting eaten by the river snake.

Finn was quite practical, able to find an old rope from before the apocalypse that had long since twisted with vines and frayed at the torn edges but seemed sturdier than it had been.

Casey wondered how they would get all of their supplies across the river with their only know passage of crossing to be a rope, but she didn't worry about it long as they cheered for Finn to swing across. 

"You wanted to go first," Clarke called to Finn who now stood on the rock with Jasper beside him and the rope loosely held between his hands. "Now, quit stalling."

"Mount Weather awaits!" Octavia cheered.

"Just hang on till the apogee and you'll be fine," Jasper assured Finn.

"The apogee... like the Native Americans, right?" Finn asked, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes as he turned to Jasper, trying to keep a straight face.

"Apogee, not Apache."

"He knows," Clarke cut in. _"Today,_ Finn."

"Aye, aye, Captain. See you on the other side," Finn grinned, saluting her.

"Let me. I can do it," Jasper called just before Finn launched, taking the rope from him.

Casey let out a loud whistle from between her fingers as Jasper took the rope. He turned to her with a sheepish smile as Finn clapped a hand on his shoulder, moving out of the way.

"I knew there was a badass in there somewhere," Finn smiled.

Jasper stood on the rock, preparing himself, trying to gain the nerves that just weren't coming. All he needed was a little push, and Finn was able to give him that with ease.

"Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper. The trick is not fighting it."

Jasper nodded his head, rolling his shoulders back, and smiled as he called to them, "See you on the other side."

Jasper swung across the river, his long legs curled into his chest as he screamed in excitement before falling onto the edge of the other side getting his feet wet. He stood immediately, raising his arms, and screamed: "We are apogee!"

The teens on the other side of the river screamed with him in excitement, something finally going right for them.

Finn had turned to Clarke, holding the rope out to her.

Clarke held the rope in between her hands, although they shook from her nervousness as she smiled lightly at Finn, whereas the day before she barely even seemed to give him a second glance.

Casey rose an amused eyebrow, a romance brewing between the two and even though Octavia had her claim on him, he didn't seem as interested in her as he did with Clarke.

"Come on, Clarke! You've got this! Whoo! Apogee!" Jasper screamed, climbing up the cliff to move out of her way. After a moment of him scrambling along the sandy riverbed, he picked up a metal sign and swung it above his head so that they could see it. "We did it! Mount Weather! Whoo! Whoo!"

Everyone took a deep breath in relief. Casey felt excited for once, seeing that they were on the right path. The faster they made it to Mount Weather, the faster they could help the Ark come down to Earth. Then, maybe she could see her mom again and feel a little more relieved than before.

Although, those pleasant thoughts were ruined when a spear flung from the trees behind them and pierced right into the middle of Jasper's chest, flinging him backward into a tree.

Noone moved. They stared at Jasper's lifeless body thrown back into the trees, blood seeping around the spear protruding from his chest.

Then, Clarke screamed and then Finn called for them to get down. Casey could barely focus, her eyes were still on Jasper as she thought: _He's dead. He's dead. His head rolled to the side, eyes wide open and a spear in the chest_ dead. _He's fucking dead and we're next. I've only made it a day past my expiration date and there's already a target on my back. On_ all _of our backs._

Nothing else happened, although, the forest stilled and soon Eli was pulling her up from the squat she didn't even remember she had moved into and they all ran into the forest, back toward the dropship.

They were running, and running, and running until they could barely feel their legs, their lungs. The scenery they had once been admiring was now a barrier between the danger lurking behind them and the false sense of security they had in their camp miles away.

Casey could feel herself counting loudly, but didn't hear it. Nobody seemed to mind either. They weren't being quiet on their sprint back to camp anyway, so if they were following her voice it wasn't like they couldn't follow their loud footfalls breaking every branch in their path or their heavy breathing from a mile away.

Monty tripped, falling face-first into the dirt. Octavia and Finn skidded to a stop and pulled him up where he laid without struggling to move. Casey worried he had given up, but in reality, he had been focused on the bones littering the clearing. Everyone stopped as they realized what they were standing in, but Casey felt like they needed to keep going. _We aren't safe. We aren't safe._

"Who are they?" Finn asked as if this was more important than getting to safety.

"It doesn't matter!" Casey snapped, catching his gaze as he looked at her in surprise. "We need to keep moving, no matter how interesting it is," she told them breathlessly, knocking the skull Clarke had picked up out of her hands. Casey was about to start dragging them back to the dropship by their necks when a scream impeded any further movement.

"Jasper," Clarke whispered, her blue eyes wide and wild. "He's alive."

Clarke darted off to the river they had just come from. Finn, Octavia and Monty followed right behind her. Casey, however, wanted to stay behind, stay safe, make it back to camp. Her hands pulled at the ends of her hair, squeezing her eyes shut, and counted under her breath.

"We can't split up," Eli whispered, his hand on her shoulder. 

Casey opened her eyes to find his, a small frown on his face. She took a moment, but every second she did Clarke and the others were farther and farther away. 

So, she nodded solemnly, and repeated, "We can't split up."

They sprinted to meet the three behind a bush overlooking the river where Jasper had been but was no longer there.

"No. Where is he?" Monty muttered, his eyes scouring the tree line to see if he missed Jasper trying to crawl away or just _any_ sign of his best friend.

"They took him," Clarke concluded, turning the blood in their veins cold.

* * *

_"THISIS FOR MY FATHER!"_

They could all hear Murphy scream from outside of the Dropship camp. They were exhausted having to run all the way back from the river until Casey could barely stand anymore. They walked for about half a mile, Eli and Finn holding Casey up as the wound on her thigh started to bleed heavier and shoot spikes of pain up and down her leg from over-exertion. Clarke reassured her it didn't look infected _yet,_ but she'd patch it up when she had the chance.

Now, they returned, and Murphy was already trying to act out some revenge plan he had been craving since they landed and learned that Wells Jaha, the Chancellor's son, had come to Earth with them.

Casey tried to pull herself out of Finn and Eli's arms to get to Murphy but they had locked their arms tight around her, preventing escape.

"He's going to kill him," Casey claimed, bending forward as she tried to slip past the knot of arms. She looked up into Eli's blank face and sobbed, "Please, he will."

"Wells!" Clarke shouted, storming past the three, and where Wells had Murphy caught in a headlock, the edge of his knife rested against the skin of Murphy's neck. "Let him go!"

"Clarke's got it handled," Eli assured her.

Casey turned to watch, tears running down her face, the emotional toll from their trip, and the injury she had sustained made her feel even more distressed than usual.

Wells stepped back from Murphy like an obedient dog. Although, Murphy could not be so easily tamed. Years of untreated anger issues piled up resentment and an abusive relationship with his mother ready to kill the embodiment of his worst self; but, Bellamy stood in his way.

Murphy was set on a warpath, his expression was tight and angry, he looked ready to kill Bellamy just to get his hands on Wells. Bellamy noted this but didn't back down as he caught Murphy's eye then nodded his head to the side where Casey stood with Eli and Finn.

Murphy followed what he had been looking at and found Casey. His face fell at the sight of her, all the anger in him had subsided for now as she ran to meet her. Finn left Casey's side as he approached to give them space.

"What happened?" Murphy asked, snapping at Eli as he turned to him, fuming once again.

"Hey, I'm alright," Casey assured Murphy, her hand on his chest as she pushed him back, telling him to relax.

"Alright?" Murphy scoffed. "You look half-dead!"

"Well, the other half of me is fine," she snapped back bluntly, exhausted. "I'm not the one we need to be worrying about," she stated, her eyes darting from him to Bellamy, her jaw clenching at the sight of him.

It was _his_ fault that Jasper was nearly killed in the forest and taken. If he had relented and sent more than seven people to go in search of supplies for roughly one hundred people then they wouldn't be stuck in this mess.

"We were attacked," Clarke explained, gaining the attention of the rest of the camp lingering.

Bellamy caught Casey's glare with his own. His eyes were dark, tired, and seeking for a reason why she was so adamant to blame him.

"Attacked?" Wells asked, taken aback by Clarke's words, his eyes racking her body to check for injuries. "By what?"

"Not what," Finn continued. "Who. It turns out when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last Grounder."

"It's true," Clarke followed. "Everything we thought about the ground is wrong. There are people here. Survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"Yeah, the bad news is, the Grounders will," Finn finished, destroying any hope of survival the teenagers had left.

"Jasper was hit. They took him," Clarke said, her voice radiating to ensure that she was heard, although, she was quickly distracted. She had turned to Wells, her gaze catching his wristband that wasn't there. "Where's your wristband?"

"Oh, who the _fuck_ cares right now?" Casey exclaimed, her eyes peeling from Bellamy and over to Clarke. A frown sunk into her features, ignoring the pain in her leg as she continued to stand with Eli. "We need to go out there and find him, but we _need_ the backup _you_ didn't want to give us," she stated, moving out of Eli's grip and towards Bellamy. "For what? _Your pride?"_ she sneered, standing close enough to settle a finger in the middle of his chest.

"Not my pride," Bellamy stated, dangerously quiet. "If I had sent out more with you, how many would have gotten hurt or died the same as him?"

"None! Have any of you been speared down in this camp?" Casey asked, loud enough for the others to hear, the silence answering her. "My poi..." Casey stumbled on her words as she shifted the weight between her legs and began to crumble to the ground. Murphy shot toward her, catching her.

"Exactly my point," she reiterated, placing her arm around Murphy's neck. "We're better in numbers."

"How many wristbands?" Clarke interrupted.

"Oh my, God," Casey muttered, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Twenty-four and counting," Murphy stated smugly beside her.

Casey looked up at Murphy sharply. She didn't think it was the time to talk about the wristband but he knew that her mother, _his_ mother was up there, and he was trying to kill her.

"I can't believe you," she whispered in Murphy's ear, turning to look over his shoulder.

Murphy didn't have time to react as Casey nodded at Eli who nodded back. He took two wide strides before he stood beside them and pulled Casey out of Murphy's arm.

"I'm going to clean her wound," Eli said simply, but the disheartened and betrayed look on Murphy's face didn't go unnoticed by either teenager.

Eli set Casey down beside the Dropship and unwrapped her wound to clean it as best as he could as they continued to listen to Clarke and Bellamy argue over the best course of action for their people rather than sending out a rescue mission for Jasper then discussing them.

"You _idiots._ Life support on the Ark is failing," Clarke said, desperate for them to listen. "That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them... you're killing us!"

"We're stronger than you think," Bellamy countered. "Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say you're not criminals! You're fighters, _survivors!_ The Grounders should worry about us!"

The hundred cheered in unison at the end of Bellamy's speech, but all Casey was left with was a knot that bad things were to come for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been awhile since I've posted on here, but I'm going to try to keep this story updated.
> 
> I would just like to point out that when it says that Murphy's mom is on the Ark, I'm not referring to the mom that was an alcoholic and abusive and died but Casey's mom, Rian, who took him in as her own son.
> 
> Also, I'm very tired right now but I'm glad I got this written. I have so many ideas for upcoming seasons and I just really want to get to them. I should probably start writing S2 sometime soon since I have all of S1 written . . .
> 
> Thank you all for reading, voting and commenting, as always. I love you.

**Author's Note:**

> The Flight follows the plot of the 100 which mentions and/or depicts graphic violence, death, fascination of death, mental illness, alcohol, self-harm, suicide and sex. Please be safe and read at your own discretion.
> 
> This book (and the following books) are going to be a very slow burn, enemies to lovers relationship between Casey and Bellamy. Not to say there won't be hints at a romance brewing but there are s̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ six seasons and in my opinion once characters get together I start to get uninterested because there's no sExUaL tEnSiOn between them any more. In that vein, there will be separate relationships, friendships, and differing plot lines for both Casey and Bellamy. They are not conjoined at the hip and have different priorities for a long time. These characters have been placed in very difficult situations as well and before they can even think about having a romantic relationship they need to learn who they are.
> 
> And thank you guys for reading!! I appreciate everyone who has read this book, voted and commented and those who come to read it. This book has only gotten to 9k but for once I don't feel motivated by the amount of views this book gets but the story and characters I've fleshed out. I'm so excited to get this out to you guys.
> 
> I have through season six practically planned out (since seven sucked so hard I have to figure out how to fix that... but that's a while away). I hope you enjoy this book, and let me know what you think if you haven't already.
> 
> Also, look out for a Raven Reyes book that will be tied in with Casey's story starting in season 5!


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